A Mask
by Shayera
Summary: Hakkai has a small nighttime chat with a stranger who understands him all too well... (Fushigi Yuugi crossover)


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A Mask 

It was raining. Raindrops smattered heavily on the roof of the little inn where the companions had taken in for the night, and once in a while, the mumble of distant thunder floated in between the thuds of the rain. It had been raining all night, starting right before the first signs of nightfall, and kept getting heavier and heavier, without any sign of ever slowing down. 

Hakkai lay awake and stared at the ceiling. He hadn't even tried to sleep this night. Although lying awake and trying to shake off unpleasant memories was not the most comfortable way of spending a night, the nightmares he knew the rain would bring would be worse by far. 

Sanzo didn't like rain either, Hakkai knew. But this night, he was quite certain the priest would be fast asleep. As the companions had approached the inn under the growing rainclouds last night, Sanzo had decided that he needed a drink. Ostensibly because he had a headache from Gojou and Gokuu fighting in the back seat all day, but Hakkai knew the priest had wanted to get drunk so that he wouldn't have to think or feel anything tonight. It was indeed that kind of night. 

If only Hakkai hadn't had had such a great resistance to alcohol, he might have joined Sanzo in drinking himself to a stupor. Gojou and Gokuu had happily kept him drinking company. But Hakkai had simply watched with a smile on his face, seeing all three of them getting deeper and deeper into intoxination. He knew they would be alright, and even Sanzo seemed to enjoy himself at least moderately when he was drunk. It had been late when the barkeeper finally told him that the bar was closing, and then helped him get his half-unconscious friends up the stairs and into their beds. Hakkai had wished the barkeeper a good night and went for his own bed. 

That had been hours ago. Hakkai turned around to lay on his side, facing the door to the corridor. He didn't have a watch, but he knew it had to be around four o'clock in the morning. Hakuryuu was sleeping peacefully on the chair by the bed. 

Suddenly Hakkai thought he heard a noise outside the room. It seemed he wasn't the only one unable to sleep after all. He sat up on his bed and sneaked on his slippers. The little dragon woke up when he moved and lifted a drowsy head towards him with a soft chirp. 

"It's still early, Hakuryuu." Hakkai mumbled, and patted the little creature on the head. "You can go back to sleep." The dragon happily snuck its head back between its front legs and obeyed. 

Hakkai left Hakuryuu a final glance and then quietly moved up to the door and opened it. "Sanzo?" he whispered. No reply. The corridor was empty - whoever had been in it a moment ago wasn't anymore. 

With the smattering sound of the rain still filling the half-darkened inn, going back to bed didn't seem very appealing, and more importantly, if Sanzo was awake he might need someone to talk to. So Hakkai slipped through the door and closed it quietly behind him. Sanzo's room was next to Hakkai's, and his door wasn't completely closed. The young youkai pushed the door softly to open it more, and whispered again: "Sanzo?" 

Sanzo didn't reply. He was there alright; laying half-dressed on the bed with the blanket tossed aside. When he listened carefully, Hakkai could hear the priest's soft snores. He was obviously fast asleep. Hakkai smiled ruefully at himself and closed the door carefully again. Of course. With that amount of alcohol in him, not even Sanzo would be able to stay awake. Whatever sound he had heard, it had nothing to do with him or his companions. 

Still, he didn't want to go back to the sleepless bed. Instead, he wandered silently through the dark corridor and when he reached the stairs down to the bar, he went down. The bar was closed, empty, lifeless. In the darkness, with the sound of the rain permeating everything, Hakkai couldn't help but think it looked dead. He suppressed a shudder. 

On impulse, he walked all the way through the bar to the front door. As he opened it, a gust of wind, cold and wet, hit his face, and he almost regretted his decision to come here, but then he saw he wasn't alone. A young stranger was sitting crosslegged a couple of meters from the door, leaning against the wall and watching the rain fall. 

When Hakkai opened the door, the stranger turned to face him. He had an odd face, framed by red-blond hair, very short except for the bangs that stood straight up like some kind of mohawk. There was something fox-like about his face, and his smile... especially the smile. It was strange, as if it was a permanent part of his features. Hakkai could sense power with this man. Lots of power. For a moment he wondered if he was a youkai, but the prayer beads around his neck and the staff of a wandering monk leaned against the wall beside him told a different story. Besides, there was absolutely nothing threatening about the man - there was power, but nothing malicious. He remembered seeing this man in the bar last night - sitting by himself at a table, as if watching events but not being part of them, smiling this same smile even then. 

The stranger didn't say a word, but Hakkai got the feeling that he wasn't unwelcome. He smiled back at the other man and moved away from the door, closing it behind him. He shivered a little bit from the cold breeze - he had been too distracted to change his thin pajamas into something more fitting - but he leaned himself against the wall and tried to relax. 

"It's raining, isn't it?" Hakkai said after a few moments of silence. 

"You're right no da." the man replied. He had a high-pitched, almost childish voice, and a peculiar way of speaking. "It's raining no da." 

Hakkai turned to regard the stranger, who looked up to meet his gaze. He was still smiling, and Hakkai realized he himself was smiling too. He didn't feel particularly happy, but the smile came easily, especially when he was talking to someone. 

"If it keeps on raining like this," the stranger continued, "there might be a flood no da." 

"Yes," Hakkai replied. "There might indeed be a flood." 

"I saw you in the bar last night no da," the stranger remarked. "It seemed your priest friend had a little more to drink than what is good for him no da. Is he OK?" There was nothing but honest concern in his voice. 

"Indeed." Hakkai still wore his smile. "Sanzo will probably have a headache tomorrow, but he will be fine." 

"That's good no da." There was a pause in which both men silently watched the rain, but then the wandering monk spoke again. "I'm Chichiri no da." He watched Hakkai through his eternal smile, but didn't say anything else. 

Hakkai nodded. "My name is Cho Hakkai," he offered. Then he finally sat down. It was hard to carry on a conversation when the other person was sitting on the ground. "Pleased to meet you," he said and bowed his head. 

Suddenly Chichiri tore his own face off. At least that was Hakkai's shocked first impression, but a second later, he saw that he had simply removed a lifelike mask from his face. He wasn't really smiling. The foxlike expression and the eternal smile, it had all been part of the mask. One of his real eyes was missing, the other sparkled golden, and he looked strangely sad. 

"Hakkai-kun," he said. Hakkai was surprised at the suffix, but by now he could see that Chichiri was a bit older than he had first suspected. "You don't like rain very much, do you?" The strange wording and the childlike tone were both gone from his voice. 

"I don't," Hakkai admitted. He was still smiling, as usual, as if nothing was ever wrong. "I'm not too fond of cold and wetness." 

Chichiri's eye met his, and this time held them. "I don't like rain either. It reminds me of... things." He turned his gaze away again. Somehow he looked even more sad. "It's the same for you. I can see it in your eyes." 

Hakkai wasn't used to meeting strangers this perceptive. He wasn't sure what to reply, wasn't even sure why Chichiri was saying these things. He still couldn't sense any malice about the monk. "You may be right," he said at last. 

"You're still smiling," Chichiri noted. "Don't you ever shed your mask?" His eye rested on the mask he had taken off himself, now laying outstretched on his lap. 

"I don't...." Hakkai started, but thought better of it. "Believe me," he said instead with conviction, "you wouldn't really want to see me without it." 

Chichiri nodded. "Perhaps not." He fell silent again, and Hakkai didn't restart the conversation. 

A mask... Hakkai dwelled on the meaning of that word. The stranger's face was scarred and sad, but he wore a mask with an eternal smile. And Hakkai was doing the same thing himself, wasn't he? But that was a mask he didn't want to shed. He closed his eyes and leaned his head backwards, somehow taking comfort in the fact that he wasn't out here alone, even though his companions were all sleeping safely in their beds. 

Hakkai jerked awake. Had he really slept? Out here, in the middle of the rain, just barely sheltered from it? Chichiri was leaning over him, wearing his smiling mask again. He was also wearing a large straw hat on his head and a small pack over his shoulder. Several hours must have passed, for it was already quite light outside. The rain had slowed to a drizzle. 

"Hakkai-kun? You awake no da?" Chichiri said cheerfully. "Your friends are stirring no da." 

Hakkai blinked several times. "I see," he finally said. "I should go to them, then." He started to rise, but it took some determination. His back was stiff from sleeping in such a position and his legs were strangely wobbly. 

"No da!" Chichiri took his hand and heaved him up. "You have great friends. You should take good care of them no da!" 

Hakkai's smile was back in place, but this time he almost meant it. Great friends. "Yes, I'll do that," he replied. 

Chichiri gave him one last smile and turned to go. Hakkai stopped him by touching his arm. 

"Please wait, Chichiri-san! Where are you going?" 

"I'll continue my journey no da," the strange monk replied. "Good luck on yours, Hakkai-kun." 

Hakkai nodded. "Same to you," he mumbled, but Chichiri had already started walking along the muddy road and probably couldn't hear him any longer. 

Hakkai turned back towards the inn. He had a grumpy Sanzo with a hangover to deal with. 


End file.
